60 US congressmen call on country’s leadership to hold Azerbaijan accountable

Sixty members of the U.S. Congress have signed a bipartisan, bicameral letter led by Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) calling for U.S. leadership in holding Azerbaijan accountable for committing war crimes, taking hostages, and illegally occupying Armenian territory – before the COP29 U.N. climate summit in Baku, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reports.

This was initiated by Rep. Frank Pallone and Sen. Markey.

“Having faced no accountability for its genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, it is incumbent on world leaders to use the COP29 summit as an opportunity to scrutinize Azerbaijan’s egregious human rights record — and confront efforts by its genocidal regime to greenwash its war crimes and atrocities,” stated ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian. “We echo the call for accountability in the Pallone-Markey letter and join with the sixty legislators who co-signed this bipartisan, bicameral appeal in demanding that Azerbaijan be held accountable – that the criminal and corrupt Aliyev regime be compelled to deliver on its human rights and international legal obligations before the COP29 climate summit,” concluded Hamparian.

In the October 3rd letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Senators and Representatives stated, “As COP29 approaches, we request that the State Department press Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Government of Azerbaijan to take tangible measures that support regional peace, uphold human rights protections, and adhere to international laws and norms.” They stressed that “Despite overwhelming evidence and international condemnation, Azerbaijan has not faced meaningful consequences for the ethnic cleansing and other actions.”

The lawmakers went on to urge the State Department to “press for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, hostages, and POWs, including ethnic Armenians.

The U.S. Senators and Representatives attested that “Azerbaijan’s deadly attack in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, the 10-month blockade of the Lachin Corridor, and the September 2023 cleansing of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh blatantly violated international law and led to significant and continued human suffering.” They stress, “Civilians who have been displaced should have the safe and secure right to return.”